Soil Properties-Cassava Yield Relationship in the Coastal Ecological Zone of Southern Cross River State, South-South, Nigeria

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 1,Issue 4, July 2014

Year:

2014

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Soil Properties, Cassava Yield, Coastal Ecological Zone, South-South Nigeria

Authors:

Abua, Moses Adah; Essoka, Paulin A.

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

1

Number:

4

Pages:

265-272

Month:

July

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

The prominence of cassava as a staple food and industrial crop has resulted in the continuous use of soils in the coastal areas of Cross River State for its production. Inspite of the influence of moisture regime on cassava tuberization, relatively few studies have been carried out to identify the soil properties influencing the crop yield. This study was designed to examine soil properties determining cassava yield in the Niger Delta area of Southern Cross River State – Nigeria. Soil samples were collected from nine peasant cultivated farms. Four transects, each 7.0km long were established in the eastern, western, northern and southern directions due to break in slope and creeks of the land terrain. Nine soil profiles comprising two in each direction and the starting point were selected along the transect; soil samples were collected on the identified horizons of the profile pits and were analyzed for physico-chemical properties. Ten cassava plots of 10m2 were randomly selected from an area of 10,000m2 for vegetative and yield parameter analysis. These parameters (leaf, stem and tuber) were correlated with soil properties using Pearson’s Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis. The soil properties (top and sub soils) were sand (33.7±19.8% and 29.00.4%), silt (28.2±7.0% and 32.9±4.4%), clay (38.08±14.78% and 38.05±12.63%), organic matter (3.8±0.6% and 2.9±0.4%), and electrical conductivity (15.4±9.3 drm-1 and 18.66±9.1dsm-1). The mean cassava yield in the study area was (29.11 ton/ha) at (p>0.05). Moisture content (r=-0.99), total nitrogen (r = 0.98) and silt (r=0.86) had the highest association with cassava leaf, stem and tuber-yield respectively. Fifty percent, 87% and 54% of changes in cassava leaf, stem and tuber-yield were respectively influenced by the combination of soil properties while moisture content (p>0.05), total nitrogen (p>0.05) and silt (p>0.05) exerted the most influenced on cassava leaf, stem and tuber-yield in the study area. An intervention is needed for appropriate soil management strategy to boost cassava production in the area.

Full text: IJRAS_89_Final.pdf